Today we’d like to introduce you to Rhaine Marquardt.
Hi Rhaine, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story starts in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the place I called home as a young girl and the place I still think of as home today. When I was three years old, my mom signed me up for my first dance class at a local studio. Little did I know that would be the first of thousands of dance classes to come. Performing my first-ever dance, “The Rhinoceros Tap” for an audience filled with parents, community, and friends on a big proscenium stage with bright lights and a red curtain, I experienced feelings of excitement and happiness that left me wanting more.
When I was in second grade, I auditioned for my first competitive dance team at my local studio, Alive Danceworks, and spent the next seven years dancing and performing my little heart out. My passion for dance and the stage really began to flourish throughout these foundational years, to a level where I was pretty sure that dance was going to be in my life for the long run.
As a young teen, I was beginning to think about what my life would look like after high school, and I pondered whether it was actually possible for dance to be both a passion and a career. I auditioned for a pre-professional dance company in Calgary, YYC Dance Project, which enabled me to take my training to the next level and gain international exposure within the industry. Dancing and competing alongside the most talented dancers from around my city and internationally, I was challenged technically but began to expand my artistic capacity. I was ready to embark on the next chapter of my life in college as a dance artist.
Dance and academics have always held equal value in my life so it was very important to me that I honor this in my pursuit of post-secondary education. For this reason, attending the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance soon became my ultimate dream. Setting out on this endeavor and placing myself in the most vulnerable position I had ever been was beyond overwhelming and felt like a needle in a haystack possibility. However, after several essays, personal reflections, pre-screening videos, audition call-backs, and the excruciating waiting that followed, I will never forget the red and yellow confetti that eventually flooded my phone screen, the tears that streamed my face, and the way the world seemed to halt as I processed my incredible news.
The next year at USC Kaufman was a dream come true. Although a challenging adjustment to living away from home at first, my freshman year of college was everything, I could have hoped for and more. Over the past year, I have performed in nine different shows, found a passion for choreography, and have researched ways in which different forms of dance can coexist, intersecting to create unique and hybrid ideas that exist beyond the limits of stylistic constraints. I have found a second family and home at USC Kaufman and within it a community that continually challenges me as a student and a dancer, expanding the horizon for the future of the artist within me. However, I believe my story will never be complete. There is plenty more learning, discovering, researching, and exploring ahead and I could not be more ready and excited for what’s ahead.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The journey of a dancer is always a brave one, filled with so many highs and lows and often self-doubt. Dance is a highly subjective art form, where winning first place can be dependent on style preferences, and getting that audition you worked so hard for can be about the color of your hair, your height, or your smile. For most of my dance life, I have never been the most naturally talented. I don’t have the highest jumps, endless pirouettes, or the most impressive extensions, and because of this I often fell into waiting for other’s validation and became very hypercritical of my own true talents. It was really during my first year in college that I finally realized how much potential I was robbing myself of by being self-destructive. I learned that nurturing my own personal strengths and dancing intrinsically is a far more effective path to growth than seeking constant validation from others. As a result, I can confidently say that I am now more in love with dance than I have ever been before.
Through my highs and lows, I am so fortunate to have the truest and best support system. My family stands by me and continually guides me through it all. They have helped me reshape personal challenges into learning experiences and have encouraged a more resilient human, someone who has been afforded the opportunity to be persistent in the pursuit of her dreams. From sprained ankles, torn muscles, tears, and letters of rejection, my family has never stopped believing in me, even in my own moments of greatest self-doubt. I could not have overcome the emotional and physical obstacles that come with striving to reach my biggest dreams. Without them, I simply would not be where I am today.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My strengths as a person lay in my work ethic and drive, my passion, and my curiosity, while my strengths as an artist lay in my authenticity and my raw performance skills. I am probably most proud of my comfort and adaptability on stage while amongst other talented creatives. Performing has always been my favorite part of the dance. For me, it sets my soul on fire and resonates with me in a very meaningful way. My favorite style to perform is contemporary because there are few rules and boundaries in contemporary dance. Its abstract nature portrays raw beauty and frees the choreographers, dancers, and audience members from the constraints of stylistic guidelines or technical limitations.
This past year, I had the opportunity to produce and direct the 2023 USC Kaufman freshman composition showing, “Freshshesh”. I also choreographed a contemporary dance piece for this showing, which marked my first time having presented my own group choreography live for an audience. This experience allowed me to explore contemporary dance through more than just my own movement but through the lens of choreographic direction and production. Providing space for me to expand my artistic capacity, working on this show allowed me to channel my creative side as more than a dancer. It exposed me to so many new directing, production, and choreographic-related interests that I didn’t even know I had. Watching this show come together was undoubtedly one of my proudest moments of the year; a beautiful celebration of dance, choreography, music, and pure artistry.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I absolutely love reading. Some of my favorite books to read are works that inspire and motivate me as an artist including, “The Little Book of Talent”, “The Confidence Code”, and “The Things You Can Only See When You Slow Down”, as well as fiction novels that challenge me intellectually such as, “The Nightingale”, “My Sister’s Keeper”, and “Where the Crawdads Sing”. I also look to podcasts for inspiration when I may be seeking a new perspective on my art or other aspects of my life in general; you can usually find me tuned into one through my headphones while I am on the go. Two of my current favorites include the “Madhappy Podcast” and Brene Brown’s “Unlocking Us”.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @rhaine.marquardt
Image Credits
Joel Varjassy, Mercer Meeks, Wyatt Florin
